Issue 31: Portage Park District, replacement and additional tax levy, operating and maintaining parks, 1 mill for 10 years commencing in 2024, first due in calendar year 2025.
The county auditor estimates the levy will generate $4,548,000 annually, which amounts to $35 for each $100,000 of appraised value. An existing 0.5-mill levy expiring in 2023 will be canceled and replaced upon passage of this levy. Replacement and additional levies do represent a tax increase, but since the park district’s 0.5-mill levy expires in 2023, approval of Issue 31 would mean a 0.5-mill increase over what county property owners are currently paying.
County voters approved the park district’s first and only levy in 2014. It provides 95% of the park district’s operating budget, but expires at the end of this year, district Executive Director Chris Craycroft said.
Towner’s Woods, Portage Park District’s oldest park, got its start in 1973, when county commissioners purchased it and an adjoining 130-acre tract of farmland, all managed by a single part-time employee. The modern Portage Park District was created in 1991. It has 11 full- and three part-time employees and manages more than 2,750 acres of land, including 17 miles of hike and bike trails on 22 sites.
Approval of Issue 31 will allow the park district to develop land it already owns, add trails, expand free educational programming for all age and ability levels, plan for long-term maintenance such as resurfacing paved areas (including parking lots), maintain and replace equipment and continue its mission of conserving the county’s natural areas.
Should Issue 31 fail, voters will see a similar levy proposal on future ballots while the park district moves into a maintenance mode model with existing parks and trails. Developing new parks, even on land the district already owns, will simply have to wait, Craycroft said.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.